Princess Consort Jing led the young county princess as they walked out, meeting Qi Huan head-on.

“Mother, what happened at home? I just saw Elder Brother riding off like the wind.”

Princess Consort Jing couldn’t help but glance at her daughter.

Qi Qiong shot her brother a glare and hurriedly explained, “I urged Elder Brother to quickly go rescue A’Hao and the others.”

“What, A’Hao is in trouble—” Meeting his mother’s and sister’s shocked gazes, Qi Huan slapped his mouth. “I was too surprised and just blurted it out following Little Sister.”

Qi Qiong couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

Princess Consort Jing knew her younger son’s impulsive nature, so hearing this explanation wasn’t surprising. She instructed, “Then you arrange the household staff and quickly go help search for them.”

Two beautiful young ladies—the longer they remained in the hands of evildoers, the more dangerous it became.

“Your son will go right away.”

When Princess Consort Jing arrived at the General’s Manor with Qi Qiong, the General’s Manor was in chaos.

The guards preparing to search for the missing had assembled and were ready to depart, but only the Old Madam stood nearby.

When Princess Consort Jing inquired, she learned that Lin Shi had ridden off the moment she heard her daughter was in trouble.

Hearing this, Princess Consort Jing felt something was off, though she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She could only suppress the strange feeling and comfort the Old Madam: “Don’t worry. The two children are blessed and protected—they certainly won’t come to harm. Shuo’er and Huan’er have also taken people there—”

Princess Consort Jing’s tone paused as she finally realized: Shuo’er had also left immediately, and this behavior was just like the girls’ own mother!

Even with her daughter’s explanation, it still felt strange.

After hearing Princess Consort Jing’s comfort, the Old Madam forced a smile: “Thank you, Princess Consort.”

“We’re neighbors. This is only natural.”

Seeing that the General’s Manor’s contingent was about to depart, Qi Qiong couldn’t help but speak up: “Mother, I want to go with them.”

Princess Consort Jing was taken aback.

The Old Madam spoke first: “This old woman understands the county princess’s intentions, but it’s too chaotic there. It’s better to wait for news at home.”

“I won’t come to any harm following my brothers. Miss Chen and the others are all there—I can’t be the only one staying home. Mother—”

“Then go, but don’t wander off alone.” Though Princess Consort Jing didn’t want her daughter to take risks, since her daughter had said this much, she could only respect it.

Children this age all cared about face and valued loyalty—this wasn’t a bad thing.

With Prince Jing’s Manor and the General’s Manor joining in, the search party grew increasingly large. Unfortunately, the rolling green mountains were nearby, and once people hid inside, it was like birds returning to the forest—finding them was too difficult.

Qi Shuo stopped at one spot and crouched down to feel the grass.

“Elder Brother, did you discover something?” Qi Huan came over to ask.

Qi Shuo stood up, his gaze turning toward the valley, and said in a low voice: “The evildoers probably didn’t randomly abduct just any girl. Their target was Miss Lin!”

If this was the case, what was their purpose?

How would they treat A’Hao, who had actively pursued them and fallen into their hands?

This question stirred a dull ache in his heart.

“Elder Brother, where are you going?”

“Into the mountains. With so many people searching, taking two well-dressed young ladies anywhere would be too conspicuous. Only by hiding in the mountains would they be safe.”

“What exactly do they want? Even if they wanted ransom, they should have left some message.” Qi Huan was puzzled.

At this moment, Lin Hao was also puzzled.

Both she and her sister had their mouths gagged and their hands and feet bound—they couldn’t speak or move.

What was worse, her sister had lost consciousness.

This was a cave. Those two masked men sat at the cave entrance some distance from them, with their backs turned.

Lin Hao puzzled over their identities and objectives.

If it was assault, when she chased after her sister, they had only wanted to shake her off, clearly targeting only her sister, and even now they showed no lewd intentions.

If it was robbery, shouldn’t these two have spread word demanding ransom?

Thinking it through, she could only guess it was related to Prince Wei. Her sister was the prospective princess consort—these two abducting her sister were most likely targeting Prince Wei.

Lin Hao contemplated their purpose to judge their situation. Were they just using them as hostages to exchange for something, or would they silence them permanently?

Even if they didn’t harm them and released them after some time, their reputations would be ruined. People would surely speculate about what they endured while in the evildoers’ hands.

She could not care about herself, but what about her sister, the prospective princess consort?

Lin Hao didn’t yet know that ruining Lin Chan’s reputation was their true objective.

In fact, the two men carrying out the deed were also confused. One of them looked back, and seeing both young ladies had their eyes closed, quietly complained to his companion: “Don’t you think the orders from above are strange? Just take the older sister, can’t harm her, wait one night then release her.”

What was the point?

“Don’t worry about what those above are thinking. We just follow orders. I’m more worried whether we’ll be blamed for catching an extra one.”

Thinking of Lin Hao, both men felt somewhat troubled.

This young lady was too persistent, and her legs were particularly nimble. They couldn’t shake her off despite trying for a long time, so they had to bring her along.

“Anyway, we’re releasing them both eventually. Shouldn’t be blamed, right? Say, these sisters are really beautiful.”

“Don’t think about nonsense. These aren’t people we can provoke.”

“They’re unconscious—touching them once, they won’t even notice—”

The suddenly arising whimpering sounds interrupted their conversation.

Both men turned their heads simultaneously, looking at the panicked, struggling young lady.

The young lady’s mouth was gagged, her hands bound behind her back. Though they called it struggling, she could only emit broken whimpering sounds from her throat, looking pitiful and helpless.

One of the men walked over.

The young lady’s feet were also bound together. She raised her head, looking at him with terror, using all her strength to inch backward.

The man couldn’t help but laugh: “You kept chasing earlier, now you know fear?”

He crouched down, confirming again: “She’s the older sister, you’re the younger sister?”

Lin Hao hesitated, then nodded.

When she was chasing, she had called out “Elder Sister.” These two men must have heard, and now they were specifically asking her, showing how much they cared about their abduction target. This also indicated her guess should be correct.

The other man walked over, his build more imposing than the first, half a head taller: “Don’t tell her too much.”

“We should still give them some water, right?” The shorter man lowered his voice. “These delicate young ladies from good families probably can’t withstand going without food or water for a long time.”

Seeing his companion nod, he took the water flask and warned Lin Hao: “I’m going to take out the cloth stuffed in your mouth now. Don’t cry out loudly. If you don’t know what’s good for you, you’ll suffer. Understand?”

Lin Hao nodded repeatedly.

The man reached out and removed the cloth ball. With her mouth freed, Lin Hao breathed deeply in large gulps.

Seeing Lin Hao didn’t cry out, the man was fairly satisfied and brought the water flask over: “Drink.”

“Can you untie my hands?” Lin Hao asked tentatively.

Though her face was pale with an appearance of exhaustion, the man still refused outright: “No!”